


The First Heist - Castle of Lust [HIATUS]

by Leyacer



Series: A Lovesick Persona [2]
Category: Persona 5, Yandere Simulator (Video Game)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, F/M, P5 AU, Persona 5 AU, So I continued this, enjoy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-15
Updated: 2018-10-01
Packaged: 2019-03-31 19:36:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13981884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leyacer/pseuds/Leyacer
Summary: With a new option available to her, Ayano makes use of her power to get rid of the perverse teacher, Mida Rana, making new allies and enemies along the way.(On a hiatus: I'm taking a short break so I can try to write and do other things.)





	1. An Encounter

The fight had gone by in a blur. After Medea had appeared, Rana's guards had fallen apart - literally. Their armor fell off to reveal strange creatures acting very hostile towards Ayano and her awakened Persona. With a newly manifested dagger in hand, Ayano had attacked and beat the creatures, Medea guiding her as the battle went on.

  Now, Ayano stood in front of the defenseless 'queen' Mida Rana and her prince, Ayano's Senpai. They both cowered before her, mostly from shock, Ayano assumed. She took the keys one of the guards had dropped near Rana's feet earlier, and before either of the self-proclaimed rulers could protest, she ran out of the jail cell and locked the door behind her.

  "You stay there," Ayano said threateningly, and threw the keys away. The two inside the cell ran towards the bars, and grabbed them in the same manner Ayano had earlier. Ayano felt a small sense of satisfaction seeing that.

  "H-How dare you!" Rana stammered, face red from embarrassment. Senpai stood next to her, furiously scowling at Ayano. Even though Ayano was convinced this was an imposter, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of despair seeing him look at her despisingly like that. She supressed it, however, and said in a cold voice:

"Be quiet. This is the least of your worries, if you had listened to what I had said earlier." Then, she turned around, took the cell's key from the keychain and threw it away, as far as she could. Seeing a small river not so far from her, the key she had thrown fell in the stream with a small plop. Then, paying no further heed to the trapped queen and prince, she ran away.

  While running, Ayano noticed several things. Firstly, she was running through what seemed to be an underground prison. A small river ran at her right, while at her left she passed jail cell after jail cell, each empty. The second thing Ayano had noticed, was that her clothes had changed. Instead of the standard blue-and-white sailor uniform that was mandatory at Akademi High, she wore a deep blue leather jacket, held together by a black belt, over a peach shirt and a wide sky blue skirt. The heels of her knee-high boots ticked against the prison's stone floor as she ran. The mask that covered her face was of a vaguely rectangular shape, but she was unable to tell what exactly it looked like. Ayano had no idea when she had changed into this getup.

  Ayano had nearly slipped on the wet tiles several times, when she came across a cell whose prisoner seemed very familiar.

  The girl inside seemed to be busy inspecting every corner of the cell, probably in an attempt to find a way to escape. Intelligent-looking ruby-red eyes sparkled behind the red-framed glasses on her nose as she looked around. Her short scarlet hair was messy, in a way that made it seem like it wasn't supposed to be. She wore the same sailor uniform Ayano had worn before she involuntarily changed into her new outfit. Another student from Akademi High?

The girl seemed to notice Ayano's presence, and stopped her investigation to face the girl on the other side of the bars.

  "Well, fancy meeting you here." she said with a smirk.

  "Who are you? And what are you even doing here?" Ayano inquired.

  "My, my." The girl feigned surprise, putting a hand over her mouth, but through her pale fingers Ayano still saw the smirk. "And here I thought over these past 6 weeks, we must have forged an inseperable bond, exchanging messages to and fro, as well as... services." She dragged out the word 'inseperable', her smirk intensifying.

  Ayano had no idea what the girl meant. She barely 'exchanged messages' with anyone. Except for her parents, and... that person. Could it be?

"Info-chan?"

"There we go." the girl said. She stopped covering her mouth in feigned shock, and instead used it to push her glasses further up her nose.

  "Now, onto more useful questions." Info-chan said, her facial expression suddenly changing to dead seriousness. "How did you get out?"

Ayano was taken aback by this question. "Well... it's a long story."

"Does it have anything to do with those odd clothes?" Info-chan asked, and pointed to Ayano's mask and clothes. However, not soon after she did, they disappeared in a mist of blue flames and the sailor uniform returned. Both girls didn't say anything, confused by whatever had just happened to Ayano's unique outfit, until suddenly the clanking and clinging of metal could be heard.

  "I need to get going." Ayano muttered, and started to run away, when Info-chan yelled:

  "Wait! Let me come with you!"

  Ayano turned around, glaring at Info-chan. "Why would I do that?"

The redhead rolled her eyes and said in a condescending tone. "Well, firstly, you need my help back at school. Secondly, do you have any idea how to get out of this place?"

Ayano was forced to admit she didn't, but retorted by asking Info-chan the same question.

  "As a matter of fact, I do. Let me guess, you entered through the front entrance?" Info-chan replied.

  Ayano nodded, unsure where Info-chan was heading with this.

  "Well, as every sensible person would do, I searched for a way in that was less obvious and 50/50."

  Ayano bit her lip and let Info-chan continue.

  "So, if you can get me out of here, I'll show you a way out. I paid attention when I was dragged down here, too, so we should also be fine in that regard."

Ayano sighed. "Alright, I'll help you out."

* * *

 

After Ayano had managed to free Info-chan by using another key from the keychain, they had both quickly run away, in fear of guards discovering them. Info-chan ran in front, leading the way.

  They had passed a few more cells along the way, some of which had prisoners, but something about them was... off. Ayano couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she didn't care much anyway. She was more than ready to get out of this wretched castle dungeon.

  They turned a corner, and bumped into a guard that had been standing there. Info-chan backed away while Ayano stepped forward, as if they'd rehearsed it. Ayano quickly summoned Medea and fended off the guard's attacks, with Info-chan behind her muttering in fascination, "That's quite something... Being able to summon... whatever that is..."

  Ayano turned around for a second to scowl at Info-chan. "Please don't distract me."

Using the Persona's power, Ayano quickly wiped out the creature the guard had transformed into. Once she had, she and Info-chan started running again. While running, Ayano noticed she was wearing the outfit with the mask again.

  An iron door entered Ayano's field of vision after running for about five minutes or so. Info-chan, standing in front of it, looked at it pensively. The girl turned to Ayano, seemingly annoyed.

  "I don't suppose you have the key for this thing on that keychain of yours?"

Ayano took the keychain from a pocket in her new jacket, and went through the keys on it, looking for one that might unlock the door. After a few tries, she found the right key, and the door swung open.

  "Convenient." Info-chan muttered, and they went trough the door. Ayano gestured for Info-chan, who was about to continue running, to wait for a moment, and locked the door behind them.

  They seemed to have made it out of the dungeon, as the dark stone hallways turned into crimson hallways with red carpet on the ground, paintings of Mida Rana on the walls and golden chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. There were still guards around, but they were fewer and less alert than the ones in the dungeon. Ayano and Info-chan mostly avoided them, only fighting when necessary.

  The route Info-chan pointed out became less and less confusing, until they reached a dead end and the redhead said: "We're here."

There seemed to be nothing that could lead outside at first in the deserted hallway, but then Ayano noticed a ventilation shaft in the upper right corner of one wall. It was just big enough for a girl of her physique to crawl through, and directly under it was an ebony closet.

  "Are you coming?" Info-chan asked. She looked impatient, and for some reason now held a grate in her hand. Ayano guessed it must be to cover the ventilation shaft and hide their escape route, but didn't ask where her companioj had found it. She simply nodded, and with surprising ease she climbed atop the closet. She helped Info-chan up, and went inside the shaft.

  Ayano was unable to look behind her in the narrow space, but from the sound of metal against metal and soft thumping she deduced that Info-chan had managed to reattach the grate and was now following her. Together, they crawled through the shaft. After what seemed like an eternity, they reached the end. The ventilation shaft had led them to a place just left of the front gates, luckily far enough for Ayano and Info-chan to remain unnoticed.

  Ayano looked to Info-chan, who had just emerged from the shaft as well. The girl shrugged and thanked her. Ayano nodded in response and thanked her as well, for showing her the way out. Then, they walked over the drawbridge in front of them, and somehow, the next time either of them looked over their shoulder, the castle had disappeared, as if nothing strange had happened that afternoon.

* * *

 

After Ayano had made her way home, she immediately went upstairs and collapsed on her bed. She had never felt this exhausted before. For some reason, the second she had left the castle, she had begun feeling immensely tired.

  It was to be expected, though. It's not every day that you encounter a castle in the place where your school once stood, get imprisoned by an odd castle guard and encounter strange versions of a substitute teacher and... your Senpai. Ayano sighed. She was convinced the Senpai in the castle wasn't her real Senpai, but she still felt a remnant of the anger and sadness she had experienced when she first saw him. However, these emotions were overpowered by a newfound mental strength. That strength... that strength that now kept her from slowly being consumed by those emotions... She had never felt anything like it before. Perhaps... it was from Medea. Her... Persona? How did she even learn that term? Ayano could still remember Medea's voice in her head, telling her to stop being played and start playing people herself. She had no idea how she knew Medea's name, and how she immediately knew what to do, with or without Medea's help. Who knew she had latent abilities like that?

  Over time, Ayano's mind started drifting towards ways she could use Medea's power and that castle to get rid of Mida. She had tried everything she could with the usual methods, but none had worked. But something like this... who would see it coming?

  At that moment, Ayano heard her phone, which she had left in her bookbag, buzz with some notification. She rolled over on her bed and reached for her bag, which she had dumped next to the bed. She took her phone out of it, and saw she got a message from an unknown adress.

"Let's go back to the castle."


	2. The Poem of Everyone's Souls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After escaping the surreal castle's dungeons along with Info-chan, Ayano believes this insane day is at an end. That is, until she gets whisked away to someplace else... again.

After reading the unsettling text, Ayano decided it must have been from Info-chan. She was the only one besides Ayano who had knowledge of the strange castle... as far as Ayano knew. She decided to reply.

"Why?"

A few minutes later, an answer came.

"I'll explain if you will help me. I really need you for this, so I'll owe you a favor. Consider that payment."

Ayano was surprised. Info-chan, offering her a favor, for something like that? It was true that Ayano only could defend them in that castle, but it still felt like too little to have Info-chan in her debt like that. Either way, Ayano couldn't pass up on this opportunity. It might also be helpful in discovering ways to use that castle against Rana.

"Deal. Meet up by the west fountain tomorrow afternoon?"

This reply was noticeably faster than the previous.

"Don't be late."

Ayano sighed and put her phone away. The trip to the castle tomorrow would very likely be just as exhausting as today's had been, but it would be worth it. She'd get an opportunity to figure out a way to use the castle, and, more importantly, Info-chan would owe her a favor.

  Contemplating the different ways the next day could go, Ayano fell asleep.

* * *

 

Ayano's nap turned out to be just as confusing as her unforeseen outing earlier that day.

  The first thing that caught her attention when she woke up, was the dark. She was surrounded by darkness. Ayano didn't remember putting the lights out, as she had collapsed on her bed as soon as she had gotten inside her room and turned the lights on. Still laying on her bed, which for some reason felt rougher than usual, she patted the area to her left with her hand in search of her phone, a source of light. But she didn't find it.

  Ayano sat up on her knees and now used both hands to search for her phone. As her eyes grew a little more used to the darkness, she noticed that she hadn't been laying on a bed at all. The surface below her hands felt more like... a carpet?

"Oh, I'm sorry."

A soft voice sounded from the darkness, and Ayano instantly stopped searching for her phone. Her back tensed as she prepared herself for whatever might happen next, now that someone else was apparently here with her. Then, suddenly, a light went on, and Ayano was temporarily blinded.

  As her eyes adjusted to the light once again, she saw that a person was now standing in front of her. Two feet in neatly polished dress shoes stood in front of her, and as Ayano looked up, she saw a sharp black suit around a frail body, hands so pale they might as well be completely white, and a similarly pale girl's face smiling down at her. The extremely pale blonde hair framing her face was tied back in twin ponytails, with some loose locks. Her pupils were as dark as the prior darkness itself, and so big nearly no white could be seen in her eyes at all. Thin lines went down across her face from her eyes to her chin. The girl was looking down at Ayano and smiling eerily as she held a candelabra in her left hand, the candles burning with a ghostly light.

  "What..." was all Ayano could say. The girl, in response, offered her right hand to help Ayano up. Mistrustful of this odd stranger, Ayano didn't accept her helping hand and got up herself.

"Who are you?" Looking closer at the girl's face, the lines on her face looked more and more like dry blood, as if she had somehow cried blood a very long time ago and never bothered to wipe it off. Ayano didn't want to know what circumstances could have caused this.

  "I'll explain in a second. But for now, please, sit!" The girl gestured, still smiling, to a pair of couches surrounding a small coffee table further away in the room. Ayano reluctantly did what the girl asked her to do, and took a seat. The girl did the same and sat down on the couch opposite Ayano's, after putting down the candelabra on the table between them.

  "I'll ask again," Ayano began, before the girl had a chance to start talking about something else. "Who are you? Tell me."

The girl chuckled. "My, how forceful you are. I'd expected a more proper introduction, but alright. Hmmm... You can call me... Fun Girl!" She clapped her hands excitedly. "Because we are going to have lots and lots of fun together!"

Ayano had trouble deciding whether to show annoyance at being given such a dumb 'name', or not. She decided to show and express it. "Fun Girl? Don't tell me I have to actually call you that childish excuse for a name, for a stupid reason like that."

The moment Ayano said that, 'Fun Girl's' attitude changed. She dropped the smile that had been plastered on her face up until that point, and pure cold seemed to be radiating off of her. Her cheerful manner of speaking changed into authoritative and threathening, like a ruler issuing a last warning.

  "That is my name. Having an opinion on it is fine. However, I ask that you treat me with respect, rather than using this name I politely gave you to mock me." She emphasized the word 'respect', and Ayano decided to change the subject before things would go awry.

  "Sorry about that. Anyway, where are we?"

There was no denying they were in an unusual place. Around them, the darkness seemed to stretch indefinitely, the candles' small flames the only thing illuminating some small part of the space. It made the obsidian couches around the glass coffee table seem like an oasis in a desert. A very dark, probably infinite desert of carpet and empty space.

  At Ayano's question, Fun Girl's happy attitude from earlier returned, and she gestured at the space around them in a dramatic fashion. "This... is your heart."

Her heart? How could they be inside her heart? How was this her heart? The answer raised more questions than it answered.

  "I know, I know." Fun Girl continued, leaning back on her couch. "A bit hard to take in, huh? You're probably wondering how we're even here, if this really is your heart."

Stupefied, Ayano nodded and waited for the girl to continue.

  "Well, this isn't exactly the heart that's beating in your chest right now in reality. You see, this isn't quite reality, or a dream. It's something in between, and its shape is determined by your thoughts and emotions." She looked around. "Or... what goes for emotions, in your case. Your heart seems a bit empty; it has no clear shape. Something must be missing."

Ayano looked away from Fun Girl. She felt like something had been missing her whole life, emptiness where there should have been something. She had never been able to experience emotions like other people did... until she met Senpai, that is. She wondered what her heart would look like in his presence. Probably a lot better than it did right now.

  She must have looked troubled, because Fun Girl suddenly waved her hand. "Not that it's bad! Although I might not even have an assistant like usual-"

"An assistant? Are you saying-"

"I'm... just saying that there's definitely room for improvement. And that's the reason why I'm speaking with you right now."

Ayano leaned forward. This might very well be important to her.

  Fun Girl leaned forward as well, resting her elbows on her knees and putting her hands together, her cheerfulness dissolving again into a serious act. "I'm sorry I'm late contacting you, but we need to speak of..." Fun Girl looked as if she had trouble uttering the following word, biting her lip and looking down to the carpet beneath her feet. "...ruin."

Ayano stayed silent. She didn't have an answer to this, as she still barely grasped what was going on with this place and girl.

  "In your future, there is ruin. Ruin that can't be avoided if you keep heading down this path." Fun Girl said softly.

  Ayano's thoughts immediately went to Senpai. What if something happened to him because of this 'ruin' Fun Girl spoke of? Uncomfortable and worried, she pressed her lips together and kept listening to Fun Girl, in hope of more useful information.

  "Whether or not you'll find a new, right path in time is completely up to you. However, I summoned you here because there is some sort of guidance I can offer."

The small candleflames flickered ominously as Fun Girl straightened her tie, looked up at Ayano and continued speaking.

  "It'd be a pity if I let your new power go to waste, so know that there are multiple... ways to strengthen your Persona, if you ever need to."

Ayano was intrigued at the prospect of someone helping her make the most out of her recently acquired power, but she wasn't ready to let the talk about ruin slide. There were still a couple of questions floating around in her mind. Once Fun Girl would finish speaking, she'd ask for answers.

  "From now on, I will leave a door open for you to come here if you ever need that help. I will make sure," Fun Girl chuckled, "to do my 'very best'. This help I offer will be an essential part in the avoidance of ruin, so make sure you make good use of it."

Fun Girl sat back and clapped her hands, her grin and overall cheerful manner returning as soon as she did. "Now, are there any questions?" she said in a chipper tone that sounded just a bit too happy for the subject they had discussed a few seconds earlier.

  Ayano frowned. It was fairly impossible to not have questions after a strange speech like that. She decided to remain calm, however, and not ask too many questions, in case the whimsical girl in front of her might not answer them if she did that.

  "Well, first off, if you know of that 'ruin' in my future, then why don't you tell me how to prevent it? It seems rather backwards to me."

Fun Girl shrugged and grinned. "Wouldn't it just scare you and screw up everything if you knew? I don't know all the details anyway, so it's a lot more fun to watch it play out like this."

Ayano had to try her best to not hit the girl when she said that. Something might go horribly wrong in her future, something that would affect her, countless others, and, most importantly, the one she loved, and this girl won't tell her how to prevent it just because it's 'more fun' that way? Ayano gritted her teeth, trying to regain her composure to ask more questions and gain more information. Fun Girl just patiently waited until she managed to do so.

"So... How do I strengthen my Persona?"

Fun Girl grinned again. It was a grin more unsettling than the ones seen before, just like the soft chuckle that followed.

"You'll find out soon enough. Just remember, there will be a door open from now on whenever you need my assistance."

Suddenly, Fun Girl stretched her arm, her sleeve retreating and revealing a watch she had apparently been wearing under it all that time. She looked at the time it showed, and gasped.

  "Oh geez! I'm so sorry, I should've sent you back a while ago. Time flies, don't you think?"

Before Ayano had time to process what she'd said and object, Fun Girl snapped her fingers and Ayano's vision started to blur. The last thing she heard before losing consciousness was the girl cheerfully saying:

"Until next time!"


	3. Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ayano, along with someone else, return to the otherworldy castle.

Despite the strange meetup during her sleep, Ayano had slept fairly well that night.

  She woke up to find herself in her room, with its contents like she remembered them. The curtains were closed, but as she'd forgotten to turn off the lights the night before, Ayano could see perfectly.

  Tired, she rubbed her eyes. Despie the drowsiness, she noticed that the exhaustion from yesterday had completely disappeared overnight.

  She sauntered over to the window and pulled up the curtain. Daylight immediately shone through, fiercely illuminating the room. It caught Ayano off-guard, and blinded her for a moment.

  Sudden light blinding her... didn't something similar happen recently? In a flash, memories of her nightly experience returned. Ayano had somehow visited her own heart, and was told by a weird girl named 'Fun Girl' about 'coming ruin' that needed to be prevented. The girl had also mentioned there were ways to strengthen her Persona...

Ayano shook her head. She'd worry about all that later. She walked back to her bed to make it, and found her phone laying on the edge of it. Remembering she'd forgotten to charge it because she was so tired the previous night, Ayano turned it on and looked at the battery symbol in the upper right corner. The percentage it showed next to it wasn't promising.

  "30%, huh..." Ayano mumbled. She put the phone back in the pocket of her skirt, realizing she'd forgotten to change out of her school uniform as well, when she noticed the time.

  "Oh no... Damn, I'm going to be late!"

She quickly grabbed her bookbag from the floor, swapped some of the books and ran out of her room.

* * *

Ayano had barely managed to pay attention to class that day. The events of the prior day and night had been swirling around in her mind, as well as the questions that had come with them. It had nearly earned her another scolding from the teacher, like yesterday.

  Now she stood near the school's west fountain, waiting for Info-chan to meet her there, as they'd agreed upon via the text messages they had exchanged yesterday evening. Ayano kept checking them over and over, making sure they were still there so she had proof of Info-chan's promise. She'd already taken several screenshots, too. Info-chan usually honored her word, but with the school's most notorious blackmailer and information broker, you never knew. Ayano wanted to make sure Info-chan would remember she owed her a favor the day Ayano would call on it.

  "Good afternoon."

Ayano turned her head to her left, the source of the sudden voice. It was Info-chan, smirking and walking up to her nonchalantly. Ayano greeted her with a simple "Hello". However, before Info-chan could begin a conversation about another subject, Ayano asked her something she'd been wondering after re-reading the text messages.

  "Why do you want to go back? I nearly got killed last time, and I'm sure that if I hadn't been there, you would've been killed too."

Info-chan smirked. "I have my reasons. We just need to cooperate, right?"

She had expected a response like this, but it still annoyed Ayano. She wasn't going to act as Info-chan's bodyguard if she didn't know why. Despite the fact that it would earn her Info-chan's favor.

  "Either you tell me," Ayano glared at Info-chan, "or I don't take you to the castle."

"I know you want to go too." Info-chan retorted, still smirking.

  "That doesn't mean this is my only opportunity to."

Info-chan put her hand on her forehead and sighed. "Fine."

She crossed her arms and shifted her weight to her other leg, just as nonchalantly as she'd come. "I want to know every last detail about that other dimension."

"Other... dimension?"

Info-chan rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on. There's no way that castle or its inhabitants are a part of this world." She pushed her glasses up her nose, them glinting ominously in the afternoon sunlight.

  "My theory is that it's an alternate dimension. Part of that theory is about it originating from the human psyche, and I want to see if I'm right. Satisfied?"

Ayano had no idea how Info-chan figured this out so fast, but if you thought about it like that, if the castle was a place born from the human heart, it all made sense. Mida Rana had always treated the school as if she ruled the place, as if she could do whatever she wanted, ever since she'd come to teach. It explained her being the queen of that castle perfectly. Also, the way Rana constantly went after Senpai... she must have already been considering him to be hers, seeing how he was her prince in the castle. And those strange prisoners... could those be the other students?

"You make a good point." Ayano mumbled. Still, something felt off. It was very much like Info-chan to only give away a bare minimum of information for free, but it still felt like she withheld part of her motivations from Ayano. She now at least had a semblance of a reason to bring Info-chan, however, so Ayano simply nodded and said:

"Alright, we're going."

Nothing happened, and there was silence for a moment. Then, Info-chan's eyes narrowed.

  "You... do know how to get there, do you?"

Ayano bit her lip. She had no idea how she would take them to the castle, but if she admitted it, Info-chan would not be happy, to say the least. To stall for time, she suggested they went to the school's entrance. Info-chan agreed, and so they walked over to it.

  Meanwhile, Ayano's mind was frantically trying to think of how they would get to the castle. Did she do anything significant yesterday before the castle appeared? Ayano recalled opening a random app and furiously muttering things while doing so. What app was it? She took her phone from her bookbag and unlocked it.

  Immediately, a certain app caught her attention. It was the app she didn't remember installing. Its strange symbol, an intricate obsidian eye on a red background, seemed to be... pulsating? Curious, Ayano tapped it, and saw it was the same navigation app she'd used in her anger the day before. When she checked it for clues, she saw a single adress in the navigation history.

'Mida Rana's castle'

Ayano only just managed to stifle a scream of relief. She'd found her way back, so she could now do as she pleased.

  They reached the school gate, Ayano a little later, as her checking her phone had slowed her down. Info-chan looked at her impatiently. "Now, can we go?"

Ayano grinned smugly, if only in spite of Info-chan's condescending attitude. She held up her phone, waving it slightly.

"Ready when you are."

Info-chan nodded sternly. Ayano lowered her phone and looked at the screen, which was still opened on the navigation app. She tapped the address in the app's navigation history, and immediately, the world around her started shimmering, like air above asphalt on a hot summer day. Ayano was facing away from the school, but she saw the sky darken with newly formed storm clouds. She turned around to see the castle just as she'd remembered it, an enormous, imposing building of dark stone with large towers and many windows covered with curtains from the inside.

  Info-chan, who'd stood further from the school's entrance, walked up until she was next to Ayano. Ayano heard her mumble something, and saw her looking at her from the corner of her eye. Info-chan snorted, and Ayano turned her head to look her in the eyes.

  "Seems your getup wasn't a one-timer." Info-chan said with a smirk. Ayano looked down, and saw she was wearing the same clothes she had briefly worn in the castle last time. She shook her head.

  "Let's just forget about these clothes and get in." She pointed to the left of the castle's front entrance, to an air vent just above ground level. Last time they had used it to escape, and it only made sense to use it again to enter. At least it was more secure and subtle than entering through the front gate.

After climbing partway into the grate, Ayano helped Info-chan up, then they both crawled through the air vents until they emerged inside the castle. Ayano, who was in front, shook the grate that concealed their infiltration point until it let loose. She carefully placed it on the closet directly under the air vent she was in, and climbed out. Quickly jumping off the closet, Ayano waited for Info-chan to emerge and place the grate back. Once that had been done, Info-chan jumped down from the closet as well and looked at Ayano.

  "Good, we're here." She crossed her arms, tapped the floor with her foot for a moment, then nodded.

  "We should go back to that dungeon."

* * *

After running around in the dungeon for what seemed like an eternity, Ayano started to notice what had felt so off about the prisoners the last time she had been there.

  First of all, every single prisoner was female. Some Ayano knew by name, some she didn't. A few were imprisoned like she had been, but most were locked together in large rooms, operating humongous devices together, like slaves from a bygone age. They probably were, if Ayano's impression of 'queen' Rana was right.

  "You noticed, huh?" Info-chan said, who walked behind Ayano. Ayano simply nodded in response.

  "Slaves. Other students at Akademi. Mida Rana probably considers them one and the same." Info-chan mumbled.

  "It's not surprising most are female." Ayano said, bitterly. "That woman treats all the girls horribly, as she only 'cares' about the boys."

When she said that, a question came to mind she hadn't thought of before. Rana made all the girls work down here in the dungeon, but... where were the boys? Were they slaves too? In that case, were they working somewhere else in this godforsaken castle? Or did Rana simply not care about them because of Senpai, and they were never here in the first place?

"Hey." Info-chan's voice sounded from behind her. Ayano noticed she had slowed down while she pondered the question raised by the slave workers, and quickened her pace to prevent Info-chan from bumping into her or stepping on her heels.

  "I've seen enough here." Info-chan said. "Let's go to the ground floor."

"Agreed." Ayano said. "I'm not too fond of this place."

* * *

On the journeys in and out of the dungeon, Ayano had only caught glimpses of the main castle, but now that they were exploring the main building, she started to long a bit for the darkness of the dungeon.

  The castle's hallways were broad and brightly lit. The dozens of candles on the enormous chandeliers and candelabras seemed to want to make up for the underground dungeon's shade and shadow by creating a light that would leave no corner in the dark. The things illuminated by this light were in harsh contrast to the dungeon's decorations as well. A fancy, often bordeaux-red carpet in every room and hallway, and just as chic-looking patterned floors beneath them. The primarily gold-and-beige floral patterned walls were decorated with paintings of Mida Rana in flattering frames. In some, she was portrayed on her own, but in most, she was accompanied by males, ranging from cute teenagers to handsome men who probably were in the middle of a mid-life crisis. Ayano silently prayed she wouldn't have to see one with Rana and Senpai. The paintings were already disturbing enough.

  The guards increased in number, and Ayano had to really be on her toes. The main building's hallways were much harder to hide in, and if she'd have to summon Medea to take care of every single guard that spotted her or Info-chan, she'd have no energy left when she might need it most.

  They were walking through yet another hallway, when Info-chan said: "I've seen you do a lot of things, but how agile you seem in this place is really something else."

Ayano pressed her back against the wall and looked around the corner, in search of any guards that might be patrolling there. She herself was surprised as well at how quick and agile she somehow became in this place, jumping, hiding, and climbing behind various things when necessary. She had done similar things at school when stalking Senpai or the girl trying to steal his heart, but never like that. It was very strange, but she decided not to share that with Info-chan. Just like the red-haired information broker, she wouldn't hand out free information so easily either. Although, it might be nice as bait to get more information about this place from her...

A guard entered the hall around the corner from a wooden door in the left-hand wall and interrupted Ayano's train of thought. Ayano looked at Info-chan and put her finger to her lips, silently telling her to be quiet. Then, once the guard was close enough to her hiding place, she jumped out, quickly ran towards the guard, jumped onto his back and pulled off the mask he was wearing, giving the armored creature no time to realize what was happening and raise the alarm.

  In previous battles against them, Ayano had noticed the mask seemed to be a weak point for the guards, as it was always the first part to break, yet the one that seemed most important.

  The guard she'd assaulted, in accordance with this, imploded, a red-black liquid seeping out of its armor and solidifying into a disoriented being looking as threatheningly as it could manage. Ayano made use of its confusion by quickly attacking with her dagger, a weapon that had materialized along with Medea the day before, and again today. The creature only barely withstood her attack, enough to attempt to hurt Ayano, but not enough to survive another assault. With a scream, it dissolved into black mist.

  Ayano turned around to the corner where Info-chan still hid, and told her it was safe. Info-chan came out of hiding, and nodded. It was her way of saying "Thanks for wiping out another whatever-they-are, it's been a lot by now though, so I won't thank you out loud, let's continue." At least, that's what Ayano had been assuming the past afternoon. She gestured for Info-chan to follow her, and walked to the door the guard had come out of. She put her shoulder to it and pushed it open, just wide enough for her and Info-chan to slip through.

  Once they were inside the next room, Ayano realized it was strangely familiar. A golden staircase in the middle of the room, leading to gilded balconies. Many, many paintings of Mida Rana on the wall, all illuminated by the warm light of the hundreds of candles in glittering chandeliers above. Suddenly, Ayano remembered why it was so familiar, and she immediately turned to Info-chan, who'd already begun inspecting the room.

  "We should search for a way around."

Info-chan stopped looking around, and instead focused her gaze on Ayano.

  "How so?"

"Because-"

"Oh, hello there."

An all-too familiar voice sounded from above, and Ayano looked up to see the last person she wanted to see at the top of the extravagant staircase.

  Mida Rana smiled, her citrine eyes glimmering.

"Who'd have thought I'd get to see you both again so soon?"


	4. Fit For A Queen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cornered by Mida, Info-chan takes it upon herself to try to get herself and her escort out of their difficult situation... for better or for worse.

As soon as she saw Mida Rana standing at the top of the staircase -or this place’s strange version of her, at least- Ayano grabbed Info-chan's hand and ran back to the door they’d entered from. However, before she could reach it, multiple guards appeared out of nowhere, forcing her to retreat. Still holding Info-chan's hand, she backed away, until she noticed the guards that had appeared at the other side of the room.

  They were surrounded.

  Rana descended the staircase, and Info-chan, yanking her hand free from Ayano's, hissed:

"Can't you do something? Just off one of these guards so we can make a break for it!"

"Are you insane?" Ayano hissed back. "Just because I have Medea doesn't mean I'm all-powerful! The others will have killed me by the time I've managed to kill one of them!"

The guards near the bottom of the staircase moved aside, allowing Rana to finish dramatically descending. The woman smiled creepily, then chuckled.

  "How nice of you to visit me again. Whatever did I do to deserve this?"

Ayano and Info-chan both stayed silent, equally unwilling to answer the question.

  "I said," Rana repeated, in the same unsettling voice she’d spoken in before, "What did I do to deserve this?"

When both girls still didn't respond, Rana looked at one of the guards and, by moving her head only slightly, issued a silent order. Before Ayano had time to defend herself, the guard had knocked her to the floor. Reeling from the blow, she tried to get up, but the guard had planted his boot on her back, keeping her down and holding his sword to her throat. "Stay still." he said in an unearthly voice. Ayano bit her lip and looked up to the scene that was unfolding before her eyes, once again powerless to stop it.

* * *

Info-chan looked over her shoulder, seeing Ayano had been rendered useless as a shield. The girl had briefly struggled, but a sword to the throat can make a person rethink their priorities without much effort, even someone like her. Help couldn't be expected anytime soon.

  Focusing her gaze back on Mida, Info-chan became uncomfortable with the fact that the queen hadn't let another guard do the same to her. Was she planning something?

The smirk the woman gave her, immediately proved she indeed had a reason for acting the way she did. She had singled Info-chan out, but the reasons as to why she had were yet to be revealed to the others in the hall.

  "Ah..." Mida sighed, continuing her dramatic act. "So I guess you do not feel like introducing yourselves? No need, in that case. I already know who you are... Ayano Aishi and Info-chan. "

Being punched in the stomach would probably have made a lesser impact than that sentence. Did Mida actually find out the girl in front of her was the rumored ‘Info-chan’? It shouldn’t even be possible, as any information that could lead to that conclusion was one of the best kept secrets of Akademi. Ever since the founding of the Info Club, Info-chan had made sure to not give even the slightest hint as to what she looked like or anything of the sort. Never, not even once had she met a client as Info-chan, and their exchanges via text messages were a closely guarded secret. Even when she had been imprisoned before, nothing should’ve occured that could have given away her identity, or a single indication that Mida knew who she was. There should be no way for anyone to know what Mida did know.

Apparently she had been just as adept at hiding her surprise as she had been at hiding her identity, however, because Mida's face twisted into a sickening smile.

  "Yes, honey, I know who you are. Your clients aren't as good at keeping a secret as you think they are..." She chuckled in a sickening manner. "Especially not when given proper... incentive. Tracking you down using their information wasn’t easy, but the result is very much to my liking."

At the mention of one of her clients betraying her identity, Info-chan instinctively reached for her phone in her skirt pocket. Feeling the cold metal press against her fingertips, and the thought of punishing the traitor the second she found out who he was, gave small comfort, but it wouldn't help with the current situation. Info-chan bit her lip and prepared herself for negotiation, the only thing she could think of that would get her and her escort out of here in one piece. Putting on a mask of calm confidence, she straightened her posture and looked the queen in her shimmering golden eyes.

  "It seems you have figured out my identity, which is indeed valuable information. So... would you care to strike a deal?” she said, choosing her words with enough caution necessary, “I can offer you anything you would want, in exchange for keeping my secret and letting me and the girl over there go."

  She felt disgusted having to fake respect for this ‘queen’, but, having no other choice, she continued. A little bit of her resources should be adequate for Mida to let them go.

  "I have material for blackmail on nearly every one of your...subjects. You can make them do your bidding by just waving the slightest bit of it over their heads. The possi-"

"Silence." Mida held up her hand, looking as if she was already reaching the limits of her patience.

  "I don't care about whatever you claim to offer me, dumb girl. I already know everything I want and need to know, and use it however I want. And besides, I didn’t let you enter this place so you could try to negotiate with me." She clapped her hands, and a guard kicked Info-chan's legs out from under her. Her breath was knocked out of her lungs as she hit the floor, and she needed a moment to compose herself before she clumsily got up again.

"Please, Your Majesty, could you listen to me? Whatever you may ask of me, I am sure we can agree on something." Info-chan’s voice remained neutral, but she knew that wouldn’t last. This situation was bad, and she didn’t know where it might head. And even if her begging might help eventually, that thought didn’t ease her growing frustration with what she was doing. Meanwhile, the haughtiness gone from her expression, Mida replied to Info-chan in an intimidating tone.

  "In that case, I know something we can agree on. You see, I don't need ‘businesses’ like yours in my school, distracting the boys, making them less fun to play with. I want all the attention of the students to be focused on me and me alone. So...”

Clenching her fist, Info-chan replied, her emotions creeping into her voice more with every second. “Please, I swear, I can change that. I will make sure to leave the boys that strike your interest alone. If you let us go.”

"Honey, do you really think I need your unreliable ‘help’ for that now?” Mida said, then walked towards Info-chan until they were less than a meter apart, their eyes locked together. Info-chan knew in the back of her mind this couldn’t be, and she subconsciously braced herself for whatever might come.

  “When the expensive, but only other source of mature amusement mysteriously disappears, who will the boys turn to, I wonder? Who would be the alternative? After they get over their hestitation, I can have some real fun, really easy, and the only thing I need to do is let one of my guards drive a sword through your heart.” Mida roughly shoved Info-chan, and she fell to the ground. Mida snapping her fingers, as well as the loud footsteps of the approaching guards could be heard, but Info-chan didn’t care.

  This couldn’t be. This disgusting woman... was planning to kill her over something petty like that? And... was there no way out? Negotation had failed, and manipulation was extremely unlikely to work now. Her shield was uselessly laying on the ground, and Info-chan herself did not excel at anything involving physical strength. Was there nothing she could do? The only option left was to surrender voluntarily, before the guards could realize Mida’s threat. It was the only thing there was resembling a chance, and maybe, just maybe, if she did so carefully enough, that small chance could save her life... Maybe then she find a way to esca-

“Are you really going to just give in like that?”

Suddenly, another voice cut through the air, a voice that had been silent during the entire conversation. It was the escort’s- Ayano’s- voice, and it had harshly interrupted Info-chan’s desperate and panicked thoughts.  

  “Will you roll over like a dog and let her kill you? I though you wanted to find out everything about this place. So what are you doing listening to her?”

“Silence! It’ll be your turn soon enough, don’t worry.” Mida spoke menacingly, and Ayano fell silent. However, despite Mida’s threat and the guards closing in again, Info-chan felt her fear disappearing after Ayano’s words.

  What had she been doing? Why did she even let herself get intimidated by Mida? If she really was that easily scared, she would never have come here.

  Info-chan pushed herself up from the floor, the fear, frustration and humiliation completely gone, with contempt and anger in their place. Rationally speaking, Mida still held the upper hand, but Info-chan now didn't care about that at all. She would speak her mind and make her voice clearly heard for once.

  "She’s right.” she said, drawing the attention of everyone present, who had all previously been occupied with Ayano. “Hah! What a joke this all is.”

Info-chan raised her head, glaring at Mida. “You have two seconds to fall on your knees and beg for my forgiveness. Otherwise...”

  She put her hand on her hip, shifting her weight to her other leg condescendingly. Mida took a step back, and Info-chan noticed confusion and indignation swirling around like water in a whirlpool inside the queen’s golden eyes. Info-chan raised her voice, speaking as if the entire world was listening to her, and finished her sentence.

“...I’ll make you learn your place!"

Are you ready at last, my dear?

As soon as Info-chan had finished speaking, a woman’s voice echoed within her head. In that same instant, Info-chan experienced a sharp pain in the same location, like nothing she’d ever felt before. It could only compare to her skull getting crushed.

_So you’ve finally dropped that pitiful act of submission... How wonderful._

Info-chan screamed when a new wave of pain hit her, and fell to the ground once more. Planting one hand on her head and the other on the carpeted floor, she gritted her teeth, feeling her entire body shaking with this sudden and intense hurt.

_Nothing will change if you keep playing along with one poorly designed game after another. I am certain you know this. And, if so... should we turn the tables, as per the wish of your inner self?_

Despite the overwhelming pain, the things the woman had said struck a chord deep within Info-chan. She herself had never admitted to it, but the lady seemed to know all about what part of her nature Info-chan had still tried to force away, and seemed to urge her to no longer hide it, show it off, even. Realizing this, Info-chan let out a weak laugh.

_Yes, that’s it, dear. Now for the contract... I am thou, thou art I... Henceforth, my strength is yours to wield..._

...Why not.

_Use it, and let us alter the outcome of this game, and all that are yet to come!_

Info-chan didn’t hear anything after that, nor did she feel any pain. Instead, she now felt something press against her face. Her legs shaking, she stood up, and instinctively starting pulling on the object that had suddenly covered her face, realizing it was a mask. It might as well have been glued onto her face, as it was like she was pulling off her own skin. Info-chan gritted her teeth again, however, and before she knew it, the mask had come off. A split second afterwards, she was engulfed in an inferno of blue flame. But when it disappeared...

“So, this is it.”

Looking over her shoulder wasn’t necessary. Info-chan already knew what her other self, her Persona hovering behind her, looked like. A tall, feminine creature sat on a stool of bones, cloaked in garb reminiscent of traditional Chinese courtly fashion, the fabric shimmering in gold, black and vermillion. Tapping the bejeweled fingers on her left hand, she waved around a cup in her right, the liquid inside dangerously close to spilling. And beneath a gold-tipped mask, animalistic, but eerily intelligent eyes the color of a blazing fire took in the scene unfolding before them.

Everyone around Info-chan stared at her in stunned silence. Even Ayano, the one who wielded the very same power she now did. The feeling it gave her was incredibly satisfying, and making use of her momentum, Info-chan faced Mida Rana. She raised her hand, with confidence she had never felt before, and spoke:

“Now then, I believe it’s time for a rematch. Shall we play...Cixi?”


	5. The High Priestess

Ayano couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

  While the guard had kept her from doing anything by keeping his sword to her throat, Info-chan had tried to convince Rana to let them go. When she failed, and Rana threatened to kill both of them, Ayano had spoken to her, telling her to not let Rana push her around. It had only been out of a small hope that it would help better the situation. Info-chan had instead collapsed, screaming, after threatening Rana, and then...

Similar to when Ayano first summoned Medea, after Info-chan had taken off her mask, a Persona of her own had appeared. For a single moment, it was as if everyone had frozen in place. No one said or did anything. But then, that odd moment came to an end when Info-chan, with all attention focused on her, quickly turned around to Ayano and raised her hand, looking smugger than Ayano had ever seen her. Her Persona, which she had earlier called ‘Cixi’, responded, standing up from her stool of bones, raising her hand as well. Ayano had just enough time to press herself against the ground as much as she could before the guard that had kept her pinned down was consumed by a blazing inferno. She felt the searing heat on her back, but miraculously, she didn’t get burned as well.

  After the guard was defeated by the blast of fire, Ayano quickly got up and ran to Info-chan, to help her. After having summoned Medea, she stood back to back with Info-chan and Cixi. Reluctantly, she muttered to Info-chan: “...Thanks.”

She heard the answer from behind her. “Just this once.”

Ayano took a quick look around her and yelled to Info-chan: “Here they come!”

The guards, having recomposed themselves after the defeat of their comrade, got ready to fight as well, while their cowardly queen retreated. Ayano wanted to chase after her, but the guards surrounding them made her tell herself to wait for another time. 

Meanwhile, the guards had disappeared, in their place various monstrous beings, which snarled menacingly at the two girls. Info-chan, again before Ayano could do anything, stepped forward, her hand on her chest. “Allow me.”

She made a gesture toward their foes, yelling: “Erase them, Cixi!”

Cixi responded to Info-chan’s call once more, mirroring her gesture. Flames swirled around their enemies, incinerating the majority of them, but one of them narrowly avoided being burnt to ashes. The survivor, a creature reminiscent of a fairy, spread its arms, and a strong gust of wind nearly knocked Ayano off her feet.

  “So that’s how it’s gonna be?” Ayano mumbled. She summoned Medea and pointed at the fairy.

  “Get out of the way.”

Red, white and black tendrils appeared from a hole that formed beneath Ayano’s foe, while the marionettes in Medea’s ghostly hands danced. The tendrils bore into the fairy like spears, and it dissolved in black smoke.

Info-chan laughed. “Really? That’s all? How weak they are! Then, hold-“

But before she could finish her sentence, Ayano grabbed her wrist. Rana had taken her leave in the chaos, but the remaining guards had begun closing in again. Ayano ran for the door she’d entered from, dragging Info-chan along. Putting her free hand in front of her, she roughly pushed the door open and rushed through, leaving the chaotic entrance hall behind.

* * *

Once they’d made it out of the castle, Ayano let herself slump down against the stone wall, exhausted from the frantic running. Info-chan did the same.

“So... You... have a Persona too, now?” Ayano said, breathing heavily.

“It... appears so. I must say... It... feels pretty amazing.” Info-chan replied, panting.

Ayano turned her head to look at Info-chan, and gave the redhead a tired grin. “Oh. Would you look at those lovely clothes.”

Info-chan’s eyes widened as she stood up and looked at herself. Her school uniform had disappeared, in its place a form-fitting black suit with a turtleneck and a scarlet sash tied around her waist. She wore long sleeves of the same color as her suit on her arms, and crimson leather gloves covered her hands. Her shoes had been replaced by golden ankle boots, and in place of her glasses, a black mask with intricate gold designs around the eyes and edges concealed the majority of her face.

Info-chan groaned, and put a hand to her face in frustration. “For the love of- I look like one of those weirdoes in fighting games, don’t I?”

“I... don’t think they wear masks.”

“Some do. I've seen Ryuto play a game like that once.”

"Since when do you spend time with Ryuto?"

"I don't!"

Info-chan sighed and sat down again. For a while, neither of them said anything, and just stared at the stone and wood in front of them. Then, Ayano looked at Info-chan.

“I assume we’ll parting ways from here on.”

Info-chan didn’t answer immediately like Ayano expected. Instead, the girl frowned and stayed silent for a few seconds, before saying:

“No.”

“What?” Ayano replied, taken aback. She had thought, now that Info-chan had her own Persona, she wouldn’t have a need for protection anymore, Ayano's job would be done, and she could explore the castle on her own. The favor she’d earned with the job would be a convenient ace up her sleeve later on.

“Aren’t you capable of defending yourself now?” Ayano asked. “You don’t need me as your bodyguard anymore.”

Info-chan tapped the pavement with her heel. “...I think, if either of us plans to go in deeper, we should expect the rest of the castle to be even more tightly secured than what we’ve seen so far. We won’t make it on our own, in that case.”

She stood up, and took a few steps towards the entrance before stopping and looking at Ayano over her shoulder.

  “I know you’ve been quite stealthy the past few weeks, but those were defenseless high school girls. What will you do if you get surrounded again by trained guards? I don’t think I’ll be able to bail you out again by awakening to another Persona, if that's even possible.”

Ayano stood up as well, and walked towards Info-chan until she stood next to her. She crossed her arms and thought for a moment.

She’d never directly worked with another person before. She’d asked Info-chan for a little help every now and then, but this was different. She would have to truly cooperate and coordinate with someone else, and making decisions and plans would take longer than a few seconds or minutes.

However, Info-chan had a point. If a worst-case scenario came to be, if Ayano was on her own, there would be no way she could get out of it. A partnership with Info-chan, who seemed to be close to Ayano’s level in terms of abilities from what she’d seen earlier, would definitely make things easier...

She shrugged, and turned to face Info-chan, who did the same. She extended her hand.

“Care to strike a deal?”

Info-chan smirked, took her hand and shook it. After that, Ayano pensively folded her arms again and shifted her weight to her other leg.

“We’ll probably take care ofp one thing before we leave.” She bit her lip.

“A place to meet up will be necessary once we head here again, since it seems I’m the only one who can take us here.”

Info-chan scowled, which was a bit hard to see beneath that mask. “My clubroom’s off limits, if you’re trying to suggest that. Let’s just meet at the west fountain. People hanging out there won’t seem too suspicious, and there’s not much risk of being overheard.”

Ayano nodded. “Alright. I’ll let you know once I’m planning to go in.”

“And since when are you the one to decide on that?”

“Since, like I just said, I’m the only one who can take us here. Besides, I have plans for this place. Important ones.”

Info-chan scowled again, her annoyance clearly noticeable this time.

“Fine, if that’s how it is.”

  She looked at the castle over her shoulder.

  “Anyway, let’s go. I’ve seen enough of this place for one day.”

“Me too.” Ayano agreed. She took her phone, which for some inexplicable reason had remained in a skirt pocket when her clothes changed. She unlocked it, not without trouble with the gloves she wore, and searched for the strange app that had brought her and Info-chan here. Underneath a map of the neighborhood, there now was a button, which read:

_‘Return to the real world’_

Warily, she tapped it, and the world around her started to shimmer, until the castle was gone and she and Info-chan both were wearing their school uniforms again. Satisfied by their successful return, Ayano curtly said goodbye to Info-chan, and left for home.

* * *

Once home, Ayano immediately went upstairs like she had done the day before. She hadn’t gotten as exhausted as yesterday, when she had awakened to her Persona, but going to that other place still seemed to take a heavy toll on her. She threw her bag onto the floor, changed into her pajamas and let herself fall on her bed.

Yesterday and today had been some of the craziest days of her life. A door had been opened to possibilities she had never once expected. If she handled this right, she could vanquish Rana, Senpai would be safe, and all likely without a trace of her involvement. And as of today, the school’s most notorious information broker would be helping her. An unfamiliar, genuine smile spread across her face as she fell asleep.

  What luck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! We're catching up, which means that once we do, chapters will take longer to upload. Well, I forget to upload chapters often enough, even though I've already written a bunch, so sorry about that. I'm currently working on chapter 8, which is proving to be really tough to write, but once it arrives, I sincerely hope you'll enjoy it. But that's for another time. For now, I hope you liked this chapter. Maybe leave a kudo or comment if you did, I'd really appreciate that. See you!


	6. Deadline

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back in the real world and the clock is ticking...

Miss Fuka stopped talking about whatever the lesson was supposed to be about and the students started packing up, while the bell signaled the end of the day. Ayano did so as well, stuffing everything into her bag hastily and rushing out of the classroom. Despite the craziness of the past few days, she still held on to her routine of watching Senpai read his book by the fountain.

  She deftly maneuvered through the crowds in the hallways, having become quite adept at it after being a student at Akademi for more than a year. Some girls glared at her when she bumped into them, and one boy shouted at her, but she didn’t care. Wouldn’t they act the same as her if they had to be somewhere?

She reached the courtyard, which surprisingly was devoid of students, aside from a dark-haired boy taking a shortcut to the clubrooms on the other side of the building. Ayano waited until he was gone before she walked towards a nearby cherry blossom tree. Leaning against it as casually as possible, she waited.

  A few minutes later, he reached the courtyard as well. Ayano moved slightly from her position to get a better look at him, and watched as he sat down on the edge of the fountain. His sweet, innocent smile when he took his book from his bag made her heart flutter. He opened the book, and started reading, his back hunched slightly to protect his book from the water of the fountain. It was so simple and yet so great, Ayano could be staring at him for hours, like she often did. But then, the moment was rudely interrupted.

  The doors on the other side of the courtyard were slammed open, by a woman Ayano knew all too well. The shapely brunette strutted over to Senpai, who closed his book in surprise.

  “H-Hello, miss Rana.” he stammered when Rana appeared in front of him.

  “Good afternoon, Taro.” Rana smiled.

  “Is there something wrong?” Senpai asked, uncertain of what to expect. “My grades didn’t drop further, did they?”

“Taro dear, you haven’t had a single test these past two days. Don’t worry though, after yesterday’s and tomorrow’s tutoring, I’m absolutely certain you will nail the next test.” Rana’s smile became a little bigger, and Ayano bit her lip. With all the strange Persona and castle business of the past two days, she’d left Rana free to do as she pleased. She’d let that lady ‘tutor’ Senpai without doing anything to sabotage or prevent it.

Senpai scratched his head. “Thank you. I’m... not sure if one tutoring session will make that much of a difference though.”

Rana waved her hand, grinning. “We’ll see how it plays out. Anyhow, I didn’t come here to talk about your grades.”

Ayano leaned a bit further in their direction, listening closely for the reason Rana had for approaching Senpai.

  “They’re showing a new movie in the cinema as of today, and I was wondering...“

Suddenly, Rana fell silent, and started looking around the courtyard with a serious expression on her face. Ayano’s stomach dropped when the teacher’s gaze fixed itself on her, and quickly ducked behind the tree again. She grabbed one of her bangs in frustration. Rana saw her, didn’t she? There’s no way she hadn’t. How could Ayano have been that careless? She shouldn’t have been spotted like that!

Behind her, she could hear Rana’s voice.

  “Ahem, sorry about that. I just felt like someone was watching us.”

“I understand.” Senpai replied. “I feel like that fairly often as well.”

“So, back to what I was saying. How about you come watch that movie with me? I really want to see it, but going alone isn’t that... fun. Besides, going out every once in a while can really boost one’s spirit.”

“That sounds nice, actually... Ah, but what genre is it?”

“The same as that book you’re reading.”

“Oh, in that case... I’d like to, but only after my next test, if I indeed do well, like you said.”

“That works too, I guess.” Rana sighed. “I’ll let you know the details later. Besides, I think you should go home now.”

“But miss, I always read here after school.”

“I know, but don’t you have a lot of homework for tomorrow? I’d hate for you to get into trouble because you spent most of your time here...”

Senpai didn’t seem to completely believe Rana, but he nonetheless nodded and put his book back in his bag. Looking back over his shoulder at Rana, who was still standing by the fountain, he left the courtyard.

  Ayano was worried what might happen now. Being alone with Rana now made her uncomfortable, with the image of Rana looking directly at her moments ago still fresh in her mind. She pressed herself against the tree, as if she might sink into it if she did so hard enough, and waited for Rana to leave... if she even would.

  As it turned out, she didn’t. Ayano heard the clicking of her heels against the pavement, but then they faded when the woman walked over the freshly-mowed grass until she suddenly stood face to face with Ayano.

  “What exactly are you doing here?” she asked, with a voice as cold as ice and a glare that could kill.

  “I... was on my phone.” The last time Ayano had been caught spying had been quite a while ago, but this excuse had worked spendidly at the time. Although that might only have been because Amai was so gullible.

  “Taking pictures of me and my student? Otherwise I don’t see a reason for you to be looking at us from this tree like that.” She looked Ayano over, and frowned disapprovingly.

  “Interesting lack of phone or camera, too. I’d have expected you to still have something in your hands, at least.”

Ayano bit her lip. Rana didn’t believe her excuse, that was clear. But what was she doing, beating around the bush like this?

“I’m sorry. I’ll leave.” she quickly said, eager to get away from Rana. She’d already started to walk away when Rana grabbed her wrist. Her grip wasn’t extremely tight, but strong enough to stop Ayano in her tracks.

  “Sorry for what? For spying on one of your fellow students? Perhaps even... stalking them?”

How...?

“I didn’t notice at first, but when a certain girl always seems to be around whenever I talk to Yamada, or even see him in the hallways, that raises some suspicions.”

Rana yanked Ayano’s wrist, and Ayano was pulled back until she and Rana were face to face. Ayano tried to keep up the poker face she’d made so many times, but the current situation did not make it easy.

“This kind of behaviour will not stand. Normally, I would have sent you to Genka’s office, but I’ve heard that has happened enough times already.”

She wasn’t wrong. Ayano had been caught doing bad things two or three times before, and had been sent to the guidance counselor afterwards. With a bit of persuasion, the woman had let her off each time, but a bit more unwilling every time.

  “I’m sorry, miss Rana. I promise I’ll stop, and I’ll make sure to keep my promise. So, could you please let me go?” Ayano didn’t mean a single thing of what she said, but tried her very best to make it sound as if she did.

  “Young lady, why should I trust your word now? Stalking will not be tolerated at this school! Expect a harsh punishment after the next board meeting!”

Having said that, Rana harshly released Ayano’s arm and put a hand on Ayano’s shoulder instead. But before Ayano could leave, Rana leaned in, until her mouth was right next to Ayano’s ear, and whispered:

“Stay away from Taro.”

* * *

 **U:** _And that’s what it comes down to._

Ayano sat on her bed, phone in hand, having just told Info-chan about what had happened earlier that afternoon.

 **Info-chan:** _Did she really not say what kind of punishment you’d get?_

 **U:** _Not at all._

 **U:** _But she did say it would be harsh._

 **Info-chan:** _A kind of harsh that would ban you from school grounds?_

 **U:** _It seems excessive, but it’s awfully convenient for keeping me away from Senpai._

Ayano bit her lip. Now she wasn’t only unable to do anything to Rana, but if she let this happen, she might also be unable to see Senpai at school, and keep an eye on him. She might lose him to Rana...

 **U:** _We can’t let this happen._

 **Info-chan:** _Well, of course not. It’d be quite troublesome if we couldn’t meet up to go to that other world anymore, wouldn’t it?_

 **U:** _..._

 **U:** _Wait a minute._

 **U:** _That’s it!_

 **U:** _Info-chan, meet me tomorrow at you-know-where. I have a plan!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! I'm glad to let you know I'm making progress on chapter 8, so hopefully that won't be an issue anymore sometime soon and I can finally move on. Besides that, though, feel free to let me know what you think of this chapter, or the story thus far!


	7. A Plan of Action

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ayano begins to put her plan in motion. However, not everything is not about to go as planned...

“So, what’s your plan?”

Info-chan sat on the edge of the fountain, tapping her foot impatiently while Ayano stood in front of her, phone in hand. They had agreed to meet here after Ayano had texted Info-chan the night before about some plan she apparently thought of, and Info-chan clearly wasn’t happy having to come out here without really knowing why. Thus, not wasting any time, Ayano cleared her throat and started telling Info-chan what had come to mind.

  “So, the previous time we went to the castle, you told me you had a theory. A theory about that other world being some sort of manifestation of people’s personalities.”

“Yes.” Info-chan admitted. “Well, either that, or more the way their personality shapes their world and the way they view it. I guess you could call it their cognition.”

Ayano nodded. “If that’s true, which seems likely, considering what we’ve seen so far, that place should have some sort of connection to our world. And since Rana seems to be the ruler of that castle, if we did something to her while there... it might have an effect on our Rana.”

Info-chan put a hand to her chin, pensively. “That could be. And... if we manage to, it would prevent her from punishing you. That is, if we are able to do it before she does anything.”

Ayano raised her phone, tapped on the screen a few times, and showed Info-chan the schedule that was now being displayed.

  “I looked it up. Rana, if she wants to punish me by some harsher means than detention or the like, will have to discuss that with the other faculty during the board meeting first. So if we do something in that other world in time, that won’t happen. I can keep her away from Senpai, and I’ll still be able to accompany you to that other world afterwards.”

“So that’s what you called me here for?” Info-chan asked, raising an eyebrow. “That plan of yours sounds decent enough. However, I have enough things to do besides exploring that castle, so you need to let me know when we’re headed there.“

“I... was actually planning to go today.”

Info-chan shook her head and stood up. “That’s what I mean. Today you’re in luck, though. Thanks to this meet-up I don’t have anything planned for the rest of the day.”

Ayano nodded, and gestured to the school gate. They started walking towards it, and when they had reached it, Ayano activated the strange app, and they were taken to the other world.

* * *

“We’re here.”

The castle loomed over them, ominous as always. Ayano and Info-chan both wore the strange outfits from their previous times there, both of their faces covered by masks.

  “Actually, before we go in,” Info-chan said. “I think I should let you know I’ve decided on calling this place a ‘Palace’.”

“Huh? Why’s that?”

“I have this feeling that there might be more places like this, so I wanted to give them all a name to make things easier.”

Ayano raised an eyebrow questioningly. “And how did you come up with ‘Palaces’?”

“They must have something to do with the human heart or mind, so I thought of a mind palace.”

“Alright.” Ayano shrugged and started walking towards their entry point. “Let’s go.”

Info-chan nodded, and the girls headed inside the castle. They made their way through the vents, and snuck through the halls, occasionally taking out a guard, until they came across a hallway closed off by a row of bars. When they saw it, the girls moved closer to look at what was behind it. All they saw was an entirely red hallway -red walls, red floor, red ceiling- with suits of armor on both sides. Some held spears, some swords, but they all looked equally intimidating. At the end of the hallway, there was a dark oaken double door, and Ayano could swear she heard voices come from beyond it.

“I wonder what’s behind that door.” Ayano mumbled.

Info-chan leaned back and folded her arms. “Me too. We’ll have to figure out a way to get past these bars, though.”

Ayano, thinking fast, summoned Medea, her mask disappearing in a flash of blue fire as the Persona appeared, Info-chan jumping back slightly in surprise. Ayano gestured at the bars and Medea waved her hand in response, the puppet in it floating for a moment as its strings were briefly let go of. Something flashed in front of Ayano, moving straight across the bars with a loud clang, but when it was gone, the bars seemed completely unaffected. Ayano looked at Info-chan, and Info-chan summoned Cixi to try to destroy the bars in a different way. It had about as much effect as Ayano’s attempt.

Ayano scowled. “Seems we’ll have to leave this place alone until we have some other way to get in.”

She and Info-chan then turned around and continued on their way.

* * *

“...Huh?”

Meanwhile, a young girl was standing at the castle gates, looking at the building in front of her with a mixture of awe and confusion. She held her arms close to her body in either a shy or afraid gesture while mumbling to herself.

  “What... is this place?”

The girl took a step forward, trying to ignore her hestitation and slight fear. And then she took another step. And another. The unfamiliarity of the situation scared her, but it filled her with curiosity as well, pushing her forward. Soon she found herself in front of the large and imposing wooden gates. She reached out to open them, but hestitated. She got a bad feeling from this place, and who knew what would happen if she just simply walked in.

The girl took a step back, her mauve eyes inspecting her surroundings to see if there perhaps was another way in, because her curiosity hadn’t left her yet. To her left, she noticed an opening -an air vent?- a bit higher up the wall. She walked towards it, and struggling, pulled herself up into it. Once inside, she crawled through, taking care that nothing would get stuck on her way through. In time, she got to the end of the air vents, and after pushing the grate that covered her entrance -which happened to be strangely easy to remove- she made her way down into the room beyond. The silence was almost eerie, and despite her gut telling her to turn around and go back, the girl continued on, still driven by that curiosity, that could well on its way to being able to be considered morbid.

  The heels of her shoes made a click-clacking sound against the stone floor, the sound only dampened interrupted by the occasional red carpet. Every now and then, the girl saw a portrait of a woman barely wearing any clothing hanging on a wall, and quickened her pace, biting her lip.

  After a while, the girl came across a hallway that stood out more to her than the others. It was entirely red, and suits of armor lined the walls. It was rather intimidating. The girl stood there for a minute, silently debating whether or not she should go in, when she heard an unsettlingly familiar voice coming from the door at the end of the hall. She wanted to know what the owner of that voice was doing there, but also didn’t know what they would think if she just waltzed right in there. That in mind, she decided to simply eavesdrop on what might be happening behind that door.

The girl walked down the hallway, and pressed her ear to the door, listening attentively. She could barely make out what was being said, however, and just when she decided to leave and maybe find her way back, a metal-clad hand grasped her shoulder and raspy voice coming from behind her said:

“Intruder.”


	8. Shining Star

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Captured and backed into a corner, this will be a 'make or break'-moment...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in two days! Who'd have thought of this?

Ayano stood with her back to a stone pillar, peering around the other side of it while Info-chan kneeled beside her. They were standing as still as they could, barely moving. Even their breaths were as silent as possible.

“Just a little closer…” Ayano mumbled, attentively watching the guard walking closer and closer to their hiding place, each step bringing it closer and closer to being within their range. She gripped her dagger tightly, reading herself for the strike… When a yell interrupted it all.

“What the heck…?” Ayano said, almost forgetting to keep her voice down. Info-chan harshly shushed her and gestured to the rest of the room. Ayano bit her lip and looked in the direction Info-chan had gestured at.

The guards had stopped patrolling, and instead were all of a sudden rapidly leaving one by one, which forced her and Info-chan to shift positions to avoid being spotted. The clanging of their armor and swords, along with the confused muttering, was deafening. After the last one had left, the girls carefully got out of their hiding spot. Ayano narrowed her eyes and looked at the door through which the guards had just left.

“This has to be something unusual.” she said when she was certain no guard would come back. “Why would they leave in such a hurry?”

Info-chan crossed her arms. “I wouldn’t know. This place is unusual in and of itself.” She gestured at her mask, her red eyes like two flames amidst the black fabric surrounding them. At that moment, a thought came to Ayano, and she started following in the guards’ footsteps. First walking, then running, with Info-chan close behind.

If this was indeed someone from the real world, they couldn’t let this world kill them. It would either cost them a potential ally, or cause unwanted trouble back home, and Ayano wanted neither.

They followed the noise of the guards through hallways and big rooms across the castle, hiding when necessary and otherwise never far behind. On the way, they quickly realized they’d already passed through here before. If it had to come to a fight, Ayano thought, at least they would have some sort of advantage in knowing the terrain. And if it didn’t, at least they could make it back to where they were a little better.

The sounds of the guards ceased when they reached a familiar red hallway. The suits of armor at either sides now looked even more menacing, but the bars that previously blocked their way were now gone, a neat row of crimson circles on the floor the only thing that remained of them.

“They have to have gone in there.” Ayano looked to Info-chan. “Should we follow?”

Info-chan stared at the door at the far end of the hallway, frowning. “It’ll be dangerous. We’ve taken on multiple enemies before, but these are more than usual. We’ll have to be very careful.”

Ayano put a hand on her hip nonchalantly. “So we’re going. I open the door, you get ready to take out the ones that spot us.”

Info-chan rolled her eyes, but nodded, and the both of them made their way to the door. Ayano readied her dagger before putting her hand on the doorknob and silently opening the door.

At first, there seemed to be absolutely no reaction, but Ayano and Info-chan waited a bit nonetheless before entering the room. Neither noticed anything out of the ordinary until strange laughing made them look at the ground.

Dozens of teenage boys were laying on the carmine carpet, a sea of bodies that reached to the end of the room. They were barely clothed, in positions varying from what one could consider cute to downright seductive. They laughed amongst themselves in a somehow impatient and teasing manner, as if they were excitedly waiting for someone. When Ayano realised this was the male student body of Akademi High, her stomach dropped, and she had to prevent herself from running through the crowd searching for Senpai, although she remembered how in the castle he’d appeared differently from these other boys, and might not be present at all. So, she just stood glued to her spot.

“This is likely what she thinks of the boys at Akademi.” Info-chan mumbled. “I can’t say I care a whole lot about everyone at school, but… this isn’t good.”

Ayano nodded grimly, and looked around the room. In the back, she spotted a big wooden door, and was about to suggest they’d go there, when a bunch of loud noises interrupted her. With that, Ayano simply gestured at the door and she and Info-chan ran towards it.

* * *

 

Oka’s wrists hurt. The rope rubbing against the skin beneath her gloves and had made them sore, despite the fact that she was wearing long gloves. Her breaths were slow, her head aching. How did she get here? Oka wracked her mind for answers, and then slowly beginning to recall what happened.

After this castle suddenly appearing before her, her interest in the supernatural and occult had led Oka to sneak into the building and explore it. It had gone well for a while, but then she got caught by a being looking like a guard, wearing a mask, however, instead of a helmet’s visor. It had likely knocked her out, as she couldn’t remember it tying her to this pole. Who knows how long she had been out.

She looked around the room, wondering where she was. Guards surrounded her, blocking a large part of the room from her vision. However, through the gaps between them Oka could make out a room, fully red, with grotesque paintings of someone she vaguely recognized on the wall. In the back, she heard faint laughter, and stretched her legs to see who was laughing. In the distance, she saw a crowd of boys about her age laying on the floor, barely dressed. She kept looking at them, trying to ignore the blood rushing to her cheeks, until she noticed a boy who looked familiar – no, not familiar, she knew him. It was one of her fellow club members, no less than her substitute, Shin Higaku.

Instinctively, Oka said his name, but when he looked up, he just seemed annoyed and looked back to the boy next to him to continue talking and laughing. It confused Oka, so she tried yelling his name.

“Shin!”

He looked up again, and rolled his eyes. “What?” His voice was filled with an unusual condescendence. Oka ignored it, however, in favor of trying to gather information to understand what was happening.

 “Shin, what is… this place? And… what are you doing here?”

Shin sighed and looked Oka directly in the eye. “You don’t know what this place is?” He sounded annoyed.

“No… I don’t.” Why was he being so rude? This was unlike him.

Shin pinched the bridge of his nose. “You must be the dumbest of them all.”

“’Them all’…?” Oka frowned. “Shin, please. I need your help…”

Shin didn’t respond to her, and instead looked to one of the guards in front of Oka. “Are prisoners  allowed to be this talkative?”

Before Oka even had time to process Shin’s words, the guard turned around and hit her with his gauntlet. Tears stung Oka’s eyes. What in the world was going on? This place, these people, it couldn’t be normal… and yet there was nothing she’d expected to see if this place happened to be some strange other dimension filled with demons. The guards seemed human enough. And despite Shin’s strange behavior, he didn’t show any signs that pointed to him being possessed, or anything like that. The Shin she saw was the one she knew, but he acted as if Oka was some rude stranger instead of his friend.

This situation wasn’t normal, however. Some demons looked a lot like humans, and even if you left that out, a castle appearing out of thin air wasn’t something that occurred on a regular basis. It had to be something supernatural. It had to be. But Oka had never heard of anything like this. She’d read countless books, scoured hundreds of blogs and forums dedicated to the supernatural and urban legends, and something like this never came up.

She’d put so much effort into researching the occult. Spent so much time on it. And when she finally encountered something that might be an actual supernatural occurrence, she didn’t have the faintest idea of what it could be.

 “You said a prisoner had escaped?”

A loud woman’s voice interrupted Oka’s train of thought. She heard a door slam shut in the back of the room, and the muted click-clack of high heels against carpet.

“Your Majesty!” the boys and guards simultaneously cried out. Oka looked up to see the guards in front moving aside and kneeling for a barely dressed woman. Her messy brown bun, the confident and strangely seductive attitude... Oka had met this woman before, or at least seen her somewhere. It took her a while to recall who this person was, but then the name came to her.

“Miss Rana?” she said, quietly, but not quiet enough to prevent Mida from glaring at her before turning to the guard again.

“Is this her?” Mida raised an eyebrow and jerked her head in Oka’s direction. The guard nodded, leading to Mida yelling at him.

“Idiots!”

Everyone in the room, except the boys on the floor, flinched.

“I had some of the others go to the dungeon, and they were all. Still. There.” She turned to Oka and narrowed her eyes. “This girl’s an intruder, just like those others that came here the past few days.”

Others came here? Others from this world, or others from… Oka’s?

Mida glared at Oka. “You of all people would probably associate with people like _them_.”

“I… I don’t know who you’re talking about…” Oka mumbled, the lady’s intense gaze scaring her more every second. Mida carelessly waved her hand and continued talking to the guard, tapping her foot impatiently.

“Bring her to the dungeon. She’ll be properly punished the….re…“ the woman suddenly fell silent. Maybe she saw something. Oka wanted to see what it could be, but she decided to keep her head down instead. It was probably just more guards.

“ _YOU_!” she heard Mida yell.

“Hello.” said a nonchalant voice Oka hadn’t heard before, and she forced herself to look up to see who had spoken.

Two girls were standing by a pillar near the door. They were both dressed quite oddly, one wearing  an ensemble of blue clothes that looked like something a rather modest action heroine might wear, while the other’s black suit covered nearly her entire body, making her look like a secret agent, if it weren’t for the shiny gold and red accents. Both of their faces were covered by masks matching their outfits. Each held a weapon in their hand, one a dagger, the other two wooden things Oka vaguely recognized as some sort of martial arts weapon – tonfa, was it?

The girl in blue was familiar to Oka, despite the mask. That black ponytail… the cold grey eyes… the worrying aura… The one that always seemed to be nearby, but never close…

“Aishi…?” Oka found herself saying, and Ayano looked to her. She didn’t say anything, turning her gaze back to the woman soon enough, pointing her dagger and smirking.

“I didn’t expect us to meet again so soon, ‘my queen’” She said the title mockingly and bowed, probably to emphasize her taunt. Was Mida the queen of this castle? Mida Rana? How could that be? Oka had had enough questions before, but Ayano was adding more to the pile by the second.

“You know, I had different plans, but this is just an opportunity a little too convenient for me to let pass by.” Ayano continued.

The girl next to Ayano scowled and angrily whispered something to Ayano, who rolled her eyes before focusing on Mida –queen Mida?- again. “Alright, I’ll tone it down a bit,” she quickly looked at the girl next to her from the corner of her eye before focusing on Mida again. “But a nasty wound or a missing limb wouldn’t hurt too much in comparison, right?”

Oka’s stomach dropped, but the woman simply laughed. “Those are gutsy words coming from vermin like you.” She snapped her fingers, and the guards nearest to Ayano and the other girl started shaking, their armor falling off, red and black goo spilling out, then reshaping into giant horse-like creatures with two horns. Bicorns…?

“Good luck with that. You’ll need it.” Mida said in a triumphant tone, but as soon as the creatures had taken shape, the other girl ran towards them and started attacking them with fearsome speed and agility Oka doubted was human. And while that was happening, from the corner of her eye, Oka saw Ayano put her dagger away and cover her mask with her left hand. The mask disappeared in a flash of blue fire, and with that flash, behind her appeared…

“A… demon?”

A giant creature was hovering behind Ayano, with marionettes in its hand and stoic, fully yellow eyes.

Paying no attention to Oka looking on confoundedly, Ayano reached out to one of the creatures in front of her. When she did, the demonic creature seemed to somehow create a black hole beneath the nearest bicorn, black tentacles emerging from it and piercing the creature like spears. Meanwhile, the other girl rushed from enemy to enemy, quickly hitting one before jumping to the next and hitting it before doing the same thing to the first one again in a red blur of movement. Watching the two girls fighting like that, when she pushed past her confusion and worry, Oka felt a spark of hope light up within herself. Maybe those girls could beat the guards, and save her! It didn’t seem like they were planning to, but maybe if she asked… begged, if need be, they would. However, just as the thought crossed her mind, Oka saw one of the bicorns rushing at Ayano like a bull while Ayano and the other girl were occupied with the others.

“Look out!” Oka yelled instinctively, but Ayano got hit nonetheless. She was knocked into one of the other bicorns, which then headbutted her into the other girl. Both collapsed on the floor, their enemies ominously closing in on them. Oka saw them try to get up, but the fighting seemed to have taken a lot more out of them than it seemed at first glance. Oka felt a rush of panic when she realized her only hope of escape might be taken away, and fought back the urge to tell Ayano and the other girl to keep fighting, worried it would be futile.

“No escape, sweeties …” Mida’s tone of voice sent shivers down Oka’s spine. The few times she’d encountered her at Akademi, she’d never sounded like that. She couldn’t begin to imagine what had happened to make her like this.

“Guards, keep them down. I’ll take care of what I came here for, then it’ll be their turn.” Mida turned to Oka.

“So, miss Ruto.” Mida smirked and Oka felt a horrible sinking feeling in her stomach. The way she looked at her… Like a predator about to devour its prey. It made her want to run as far away as she could. But with the feeling of the rope against her wrists, she was reminded that she couldn’t.

“Honestly, I am very curious how you made it this far into my castle. You must be a true master of stealth.” Mida glared at Oka, the smile completely gone.

“Or… did you take out my guards?” she asked, her voice cold and deadly serious. When only silence followed, she grabbed her by her chin, holding it so tight Oka was scared her jaw would be broken.

“What makes you think you can waltz in here like that? Huh?”

The bad feeling getting even worse, Oka tensed up. She barely knew what was going on, there was no way she could answer that!

“I… don’t know. This castle suddenly appeared, and I… I… I was curious, is all…” she eventually stammered, looking down.

Mida raised an eyebrow. “Well, curiosity kills the cat, as they say. How typical. I’ve heard you were always the one to stick their nose in things you had nothing to do with. Like Taro’s affairs, perhaps?”

“Taro…?” Oka’s eyes widened in surprise hearing a name she wouldn’t have expected ever hearing in this place, then felt a pang of sadness right after. Of all the things she wanted not to hear about…

 “Yes, Taro. The boy you dared to try to get into a relationship with. The boy who belongs to _me_.”

“What…?“ The words coming out of Mida’s mouth weren’t that big of a lie. Their relationship had ended before Oka had a chance at becoming Taro’s… But since when was Taro Mida’s?

“You don’t need to say anything. You had your chance with Taro, and I would’ve allowed you to live, if you hadn’t intruded like this!”

The realization suddenly hit Oka, and she looked around the room. The boys in the back… Their strange laughter… their odd behavior… No, that couldn’t be. No teacher would ever do that. No teacher would ever get into a relationship with their student.

“Oh my god…”

Let alone this _many_.

 “Now, before I finally get rid of you, I have to say…” Mida said, her voice barely louder than a whisper.

“Thank you for being such a horrendous club leader.”

Huh?

“Truly, if you hadn’t forced that loneliness on your clubmates with those weird hobbies, it would’ve been so much harder to get with them.”

“Are you saying…” Mida didn’t need to finish that sentence for Oka to know. Shin was here because of her? It was her fault?

…But of course it was her fault. Things had only gotten worse for her after those rumors had started a few weeks ago, with people actively avoiding her and sometimes even bullying her. So it had apparently been the same for her friends, her club members… Did she make things so much worse for them, too? Just because they were in her club, and even though those rumors, for some reason, had focused on Oka herself…

The guards moved in closer, swords drawn.

It was so many weeks ago, and they apparently still felt lonely enough to turn to Mida. What kind of club leader was she? What kind of friend, to let this happen? Why didn’t she ever check on any of them? If she hadn’t been so busy wallowing in her own misery, she might have noticed! She could have done something!

“Goodbye, Oka.”

But she didn’t. She never did anythi-

“Are you really letting this end here?”

A different voice snapped Oka out of her thoughts, stopping the guards as well. Oka looked around the room to find the source of the voice.

Ayano. Ayano, who was looking at her with a stern expression. Ayano, who was still in just as much of a terrible situation as she was, swords pointed at her and her ally.

She, however, hadn’t given up on fighting. She still tightly grasped her knife, in her eyes, usually so cold and neutral, a strange fire.

“What an ironic end that’d be. The Occult Club leader, immediately killed as soon as she finds something supernatural, because some whore makes fun of her friends. Is that what you want to be known for?”

 

She was taunting Oka. Though, that taunting appeared to be what she needed to hear.

It was like Ayano had flipped a switch. A wave of emotion crashed over Oka, too much to take in at once. What she got out of it, however, was enough.

How pathetic, allowing Mida to use the things, the people she cared about against her. Oka yelled, letting all her emotions be heard to every single person present.

“No.” she cried out, the wave of emotion subsiding, turning into anger. An anger she’d never felt before, but it felt almost too natural now.

“I… I will not allow myself… to die here!”

Oka began struggling against her restraints, the feeling of the rope against her sore skin barely registering. She had to break free, and it didn’t matter anymore how much that would hurt her.

“More than that… I will… never allow…” she looked up, straight into Mida’s eyes. “A witch like _you_ to lay a hand on my friends!”

The words had not even left her mouth, or Oka’s knees buckled under a sudden and intense pain. Only her tied wrists, ironically, prevented her falling onto the ground all together. That, however, was not the thing on her mind.

_At last._

She was hearing a voice in her head. She was hearing a voice inside her head. Oka would have panicked and questioned her sanity, if it weren’t for her head hurting so much it barely allowed to her think about the craziness of hearing voices inside her head.

_It appears you have decided to cast away that false image of yourself you so desperately clung to._

Something went wrong again. Something had to be wrong for this to happen, for her to hear a voice in her head that wasn’t her own, alongside the feeling of something crushing her skull into tiny pieces.

_And now, you finally have the resolve to do what must be done._

Just when things started to look up a little bit, it all went downhill again. After yelling she wouldn’t die here, her own body betrayed her with this sudden and intense pain. How strange a sword through the stomach hadn’t been added to it.

_I shall lend you my strength. I am thou… thou art I._

Oka’s nails dug into her palms. Tiny streams of blood trickled down her palms. Her legs were shaking, barely keeping her standing. Her mind, however, wasn’t occupied by any of that any longer. The voice had begun to attract all attention she had earlier given to the crushing pain and a downward spiral of thoughts. And now that Oka took the effort to listen…

_It is too late to turn back._

She found that its words made sense.

_Now, let these people feel your wrath!_

Everything faded into silence. The voice, the pain, and whatever noise any people nearby might have made. Oka’s vision, previously obscured by tears, now was darkened by something else. She reached for it, tearing the ropes around her wrists apart like they were nothing more than ribbons. The object covering her face seemed to be some sort of metal object, but Oka didn’t waste time wondering what it could be, and instead started tearing at it, more on instinct than anything else. Although it hurt, Oka didn’t pay any mind to it, and kept pulling, until…

  She was engulfed by a vortex of blue fire, the thing that had been covering her face dissolving in azure flames. While any normal person would likely be scared and confused, those same emotions she had been experiencing for a good while now faded away, leaving Oka in a state of serenity. The moment felt like it lasted for eternity, and yet was over in a second.

  The fire disappeared and Oka could hear the confused cries of those around her. They all looked at her in shock and surprise. However, although those stares might have worried Oka in the past, now she couldn’t care less. She flexed her fingers as she looked at the ghostly chains swirled around her body. She followed the blue metal and looked over her shoulder to see something – no, she knew what, who it was – her Persona standing behind her.

  The Persona stood proud, a large sword in her right hand and in her left, a large war banner emblazoned with a symbol Oka didn’t recognize. The Persona was like a star, the silver armor reflecting the weak candlelight as if it was ten times brighter than it actually was, making her appear large and imposing. Beautiful patterns decorated the armor and the sword’s hilt alike, some familiar, some completely new. Topaz eyes shone behind a helmet’s visor. Oka looked into them, and the Persona briefly returned her look, an understanding seeming to pass between them. Oka smiled and turned to face the people in front of her. An electric energy crackling beneath her skin, she pointed the rapier that had appeared in her hand at Mida and her guards.

  “Smite them, Jeanne!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I finished it, after literal months! Oof. I'm 100% done with trying to get it to be 'perfect', so you'll have to make do with this. I hope you liked it nonetheless! I'll see you whenever the next chapter is done.


	9. Unlikely Allies and Unrealistic Expectations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ayano and Info-chan try to deal with the aftermath of Oka's awakening.

The following few minutes after that girl, Oka, had awakened to a Persona had been a whirlwind of lightning, the smell of burnt hide, and running. Oka’s attacks had been surprisingly vicious for a girl so meek as her, and had allowed Ayano and Info-chan to break free from the guards’ holds. They had retaliated with blasts of fire and darkness before fleeing the room, Info-chan dragging Oka behind her.

They ran as fast as they could to the nearest safe room, Ayano quickly opening the door and ushering the other two girls in before entering herself and slamming it shut. Info-chan roughly let go of Oka’s hand, and Oka stumbled into a nearby chair by the table in the middle room. Her breathing was heavy, much heavier than Ayano or Info-chan’s.

Ayano walked over to Oka, a scowl on her face. Despite that Oka had saved all three of them, she felt anger. She slammed her hand on the table, the sound reverberating through the otherwise silent room. Oka flinched and looked up at Ayano.

“What the _hell_ ,” Ayano said, “are _you_ doing here?”

Info-chan walked to Ayano and put a hand on her shoulder. “Calm down, Ayano.”

“So you are Ayano…” Oka frowned. Her mask, or rather, her helmet’s visor, partially hid her mauve eyes, but Ayano could still see them well enough. There was the usual shyness and worry she’d come to know well a few weeks ago, but now it seemed… weaker. There was something else visible now, something more determined, something that made Oka’s eyes look like someone else’s. It was slightly off-putting, but nothing Ayano couldn’t handle. As if someone’s _eyes_ would scare her.

“Answer me!” she yelled.

“Ayano!” Info-chan hissed, grabbing Ayano’s shoulder so tightly it began to hurt. Ayano reluctantly looked at Info-chan. “Let me handle this.” Info-chan whispered.

Shaking her head, Ayano wrenched Info-chan’s hand from her shoulder. No, she would not let Info-chan ‘handle this’. She didn’t need extra trouble, one way or another. Especially not from this girl, who she remembered very clearly to have tried to make Senpai fall in love with her. She was absolutely not in the mood to deal with two enemies at the same time.

“I… don’t know what you two want me to say to you.” Oka said.

Ayano huffed and clenched her fist. “Better start thinking about it quickly.” She leaned closer to Oka, forcing the girl’s attention to her.

“What are you planning?”

Oka looked genuinely caught off guard by Ayano’s question. She frowned, biting her lip, then suddenly pushed Ayano back and stood up.

“Planning? What do you mean, ‘planning’?” Oka clenched her fists. “I barely have any idea what’s going on!”

Blue flames swirled beneath Oka’s right hand, materializing and taking the shape of a rapier. Ayano stepped back and pointed her dagger at Oka. Strangely, Oka seemed undeterred by the weapon.

“A few minutes ago, I was almost _killed_! Killed by creatures even I don’t recognize, commanded by a teacher from _our school_ , and you think I have some sort of ulterior motive after barely surviving all that?!” Oka’s voice grew louder with each word she said.

Ayano hadn’t expected her to react like this. Oka had always seemed too timid to bite back like this to anyone. Then again, she had done exactly that just now with Rana, and gained a Persona in the process. Would she lash out that fiercely again here? Ayano considered incapacitating her, and decided that that would probably be best. She moved towards Oka, raising her fists, ready to knock her out.

“Both of you, calm down for a moment!” Info-chan suddenly said, loudly. She quickly stepped into the small space left between Ayano and Oka, a furious expression on her face. She didn’t say anything, but Ayano had learned over six weeks of cooperation that a sudden silence from Info-chan had much in common with the calm before a storm.

Info-chan huffed and turned over to Oka, kneeling and helping the girl up. Ayano grit her teeth and got up as well. She decided it would likely be best to watch a bit for now, and intervene when things went too wrong.

“I’m sorry about her.” Info-chan said to Oka, her voice softer than Ayano was used to. “Today’s been rather… hectic, and this is a place where you can’t let your guard down.”

Oka frowned and looked at Ayano, who remained silent. Info-chan coughed to break the silence that was quickly becoming overly tense.

“Anyway,” she narrowed her eyes and looked at Oka. “We’re safe in this room, so can you tell us why you’ve come here?”

Oka looked away, her eyes cast on the door to the left. Ayano was about to tell Info-chan she was going to run, but then she sighed and started talking. “…I had no reason for coming. None at all.” She fumbled with a lock of hair. “I was leaving school, when I got a terrible headache. The world started shimmering and shifting around me, which, at first, I thought was because of the headache. But when I looked up, the sky had turned dark and this castle had appeared.” She fell silent again.

“And?” Ayano asked impatiently.

“And…” Oka looked at Ayano warily, “I decided to explore it. This was an unusual situation, I couldn’t turn back without knowing the details and what caused it to happen.”

Laughing, Ayano shook her head. “Of course you couldn’t. The _former_ leader of the occult club wouldn’t think about turning around and leaving someplace like this. No matter how much problems it might cause for herself and others?”

Oka inhaled sharply; Ayano’s words clearly had an impact on her. “I… I didn’t mean to cause trouble for any of us.” Oka clenched her fist. “I would never do something like that deliberately.”

“Oh really?” Before Ayano could fire another remark or insult at her, Info-chan grabbed her left wrist and took her aside to a corner of the room, presumably out of Oka’s earshot. However, she still whispered, and angrily at that.

“Ayano, listen to me for a second.” Info-chan held Ayano’s arm and was starting to squeeze it so tightly it began to hurt.

“Oh, do you have some brilliant idea that you want to share? Please enlighten me.” Ayano said sarcastically. Info-chan didn’t react to her taunting, and instead continued talking.

“It’s painfully obvious that, after all these weeks, you still have a grudge against this girl. But if you would look past that…” She jerked her head in Oka’s direction, “…you would see that she can be a powerful ally. One we could need.”

“An ally?” Ayano folded her arms and looked at Oka.

Trying to think more calmly about it, Ayano saw Info-chan did have a point. When they’d confronted Rana earlier, Ayano and Info-chan had gotten incapacitated quickly. Way too quickly. They might have died if Oka hadn’t awakened to her Persona. If she wanted to explore this Palace and use it against Rana, that couldn’t happen again.

However, Ayano was still extremely averse to having to team up with Oka. If it was anyone else, she probably would have no problems with it, or even suggested it herself. But it was Oka, and Ayano still vividly remembered all the effort she had to go through to keep her away from Senpai a month ago. She wasn’t enthusiastic about possibly having to relive that, especially now that another woman was also already chasing him.

Ayano weighed the options in her mind. Yes, she despised Oka. Yes, she might try to go after Senpai again if Ayano let her run free. But… _if_ Ayano recruited her, she could keep tabs on her. And having to get rid of her again, could that compare to a significantly smaller chance of dying in this place?

Forcing away her anger, Ayano told herself that no matter how she might feel about it, Oka was now too powerful and dangerous to let go or fight. She had no choice but to make her her ally.

“Fine.” she said begrudgingly, before walking back to Oka. Info-chan followed close behind, eyeing her. There was no need for that anymore, however. Ayano couldn’t lash out at Oka anymore at this point.

She held out her hand to Oka, who frowned. Ayano narrowly avoided rolling her eyes at this and instead said: “Look, I’m sorry about before. It’s been quite a day, so let’s shake hands and forget about my behavior earlier.”

Oka still seemed uncertain, but shook Ayano’s hand nonetheless. “…Alright. I’ll accept your apology.”

Letting go of Ayano’s hand, Oka nodded to Ayano and Info-chan and walked to the door.

“Hold on,” Ayano said, and Oka turned to look at her. “What are you doing?”

“I’m leaving.” Oka said. “I’m tired, and… if I want to go back sometime, it seems this place will still be standing tomorrow.”

“About that…” Info-chan said. “This may be a bit sudden, but Ayano and I would like you to work with us.”

Oka tilted her head. “You… want me to work with you? Why?”

“I think that should be clear enough after your earlier experience.” Info-chan folded her arms. “This place – this Palace – is dangerous, especially if you’re on your own. Even when Ayano and I worked together, we still quickly got bested by those creatures.”

Ayano sighed and continued Info-chan’s story. “If you hadn’t awoken to your Persona at that moment, we would all have died.”

Oka nodded, her face grim.

“And, as it seems you want to return here anyway, just like we do, it would be much safer if we had someone else with us.” Ayano said, picking her words carefully. She didn’t need to say a lot, but she definitely needed to say it right to make Oka consider accepting her offer.

The girl in question didn’t say anything. She merely glanced around the room, looking at Ayano, Info-chan and the door in turns. Ayano didn’t even hear her the first time she finally answered, and had to ask Oka to repeat herself.

“I’ll work with you.” Oka said, taking a deep breath. “I-I don’t know if it’ll be permanent, but I think this place is definitely worth exploring, and-”

“We’re glad to have you.” Info-chan said with a smirk. Ayano forced a smile and nodded. Oka fiddled with her hands, a soft smile forming on her face as well. While she was doing so, Ayano saw Oka notice the lavender glove on her hand. Her eyes widened, and she quickly looked over her entire body.

“When did I…?”

Ayano was amazed Oka hadn’t noticed it this entire time. Long leather gloves as opposed to the fingerless blue ones she wore every day? A violet turtleneck and tight grey pants, and light silver armor on top of that? Black boots that reached over her knee? Nearly everything engraved with intricate, yet meaningless patterns? All of that slipped by her until now? While Oka was busy checking out her new clothes, Ayano whispered to Info-chan: “Are you still sure we want her on our team?”

Info-chan raised an eyebrow. “What, are you jealous of her?”

“No, I’m not.” Ayano replied angrily. “That silly outfit is all just for show anyway. It probably doesn’t do anything besides making her look ridiculous.” She huffed, and Info-chan chuckled. Hearing their exchange, Oka stopped admiring her clothes and looked at the two questioningly. Ayano coughed and changed the topic to something more important. “That’s enough of that.” she said. “Let’s get out of here.”

* * *

 

Thankfully, getting out of the castle was much less eventful. Ayano led the way, taking out any guards in their way, and Info-chan guarded the rear. Oka walked between them, and apparently still hadn’t fully recovered from awakening to her Persona, as Info-chan had to support her from time to time.

After they’d made their way outside, Ayano, Info-chan and Oka exchanged phone numbers – Info-chan doing so reluctantly- and Ayano explained to Oka how to get to and from the Palace. They promised to contact each other soon and parted ways after returning to the real world.

Ayano would have headed home immediately as well, if it weren’t for something near the school gates catching her eye. At first, she wasn’t sure if she even saw anything at all. Nearby where the gym teacher would usually watch the students arrive, a blue door shimmered in the air. It was connected to nothing; just a blue door standing by itself out in the open. If Ayano looked at it from the corner of her eye, it nearly vanished, as if it wasn’t there at all.

Curiosity and something else she couldn’t describe driving her, Ayano slowly walked to the door. She briefly considered letting it rest and going home, but before she could do so, the door creaked open. Ayano suddenly found herself back in a nearly empty room she vaguely remembered, with a familiar eyeless girl cheerfully waving at her from a sofa. It gave her an unpleasant sense of déja vu. Ayano groaned and turned around to leave, but the door had disappeared.

“Hello Ayano!” Fun Girl chirped, and Ayano turned around.

“Come sit over here with me!” Fun Girl gestured at the sofa opposite hers, and Ayano, after a moment, walked over and sat down.

The coffee table inbetween the sofas was covered with cards this time. All of them had the back facing up, so Ayano couldn’t tell which kind of cards they were. When she reached over to pick one up, Fun Girl slapped her hand.

“No no! Those aren’t for you.”

Ayano scowled and sat back. “Then who are they for?”

“They’re for you.” Fun Girl smiled, looking straight at Ayano, despite her lack of eyes.

“Then why the hell did you hit me when I tried to take one?”

“Because there are very few that belong to you _now_.” Fun Girl leaned over the coffee table, tentatively waving her hand over the cards, before picking up three of them. Ayano tried to see what was on the cards, but Fun Girl spun and turned them every time Ayano tried to look at what was on the other side.

“These cards symbolize bonds.” Fun Girl said, her playful act gone. “They’re the bonds you form with people you meet, and the impact you both have on each other’s lives.”

Ayano narrowed her eyes, ignoring Fun Girl’s switch in attitude. “What use have I for those? I don’t care about anyone. I _can’t_ care about anyone, in case you forgot.”

“You underestimate yourself.” Fun Girl picked out two cards from the three she was holding and handed them to Ayano. “You’ve already formed two.”

Ayano took the cards from Fun Girl’s hand and studied them. On one, there was a picture of a man with a dog by his side and a knapsack over his shoulder, and text at the bottom which read ‘The Fool’. The other depicted a woman reading a book, with the Roman numerals for 2 at the top and text at the bottom reading ‘The High Priestess’.

“Tarot cards?”

Fun Girl didn’t answer Ayano’s question, and instead calmly laid the single card she was holding back on the table, still making sure Ayano couldn’t see what was illustrated on it. Ayano frowned and repeated her question.

“Why give me these cards? What are you trying to tell me?”

“Oh, you haven’t figured it out yourself by now?” Fun Girl put a hand on her chest, and Ayano couldn’t tell whether she was shocked or just pretending to be. When Ayano didn’t say anything, she lowered her hand and looked at Ayano expectantly.

Ayano laid down the cards beside her, staring at them. Fun Girl wouldn’t have led her here and babbled about bonds and gave her some cards for no reason, right?

“You… want me to form more bonds?”

“Correct!” Fun Girl loudly clapped her hands, startling Ayano. She leaned forward. “…And do you think you know why I want you to do that?”

Ayano frowned, looking away. “…So I can become stronger?”

Fun Girl smiled and leaned back on her couch. Twirling a lock of white hair around her finger, she said: “Your strength in Palaces is more reliant on others than you could ever imagine. You cannot do everything by yourself this time, which is why I urge to form as many bonds with others as possible. And make them _meaningful_.”

“This place is my heart, right? Then you should know I. Can’t. Do. That. There is only one person I can make a ‘meaningful bond’ with.” Ayano clenched her fist.

Fun Girl shook her head. “Ayano, you truly underestimate yourself.” She then pushed aside the edge of her sleeve and looked at the watch she wore underneath it. She tutted, and stood up.

“I’m sorry, but it seems we’re out of time once again. I’ll have to say goodbye to you for now.” She straightened her tie and looked at Ayano, a serious, almost intimidating expression on her face.

“Do not disappoint me.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I've decided to upload the rest of this on AO3 after having written a few chapters and uploaded them somewhere else. I'm still busy writing as of now, but I'll upload the already written chapters here over time, too. I might rewrite bits and pieces of it, so I hope you (somewhat) look forward to it!


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